Minor League Schedule: 6/12/12

Altoona was off yesterday. They resume their schedule with Tim Alderson on the mound, coming off his worst start this season. In a road start against Reading six days ago, he allowed ten hits and seven runs in five innings. A full recap of yesterday’s games can be found here.

Rick VandenHurk will make his fourth start for Indianapolis tonight. He also made one start for Bradenton, in which he gave up four runs in six innings. Rick has pitched a total of 30.2 innings this year, giving up 25 hits, three homers, 12 walks and he has struck out 26 batters. In his last start, VandenHurk allowed five runs(three earned) in five innings, giving up five hits and four walks. In his previous start he threw six shutout innings, on three hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.

Tim Alderson will get his sixth start of the season tonight. He has pitched ten times in relief, twice while he was briefly with Indianapolis at the end of April. Tim has pitched a total of 47.2 innings this year, allowing 47 hits, five homers, 12 walks and he has 34 strikeouts. As a starter, Alderson in 2-1 3.90 in five starts, pitching a total of 27.2 innings. He has a 1.96 ERA while pitching in Altoona this year, with a .198 BAA.

Bradenton is in last place in their division, 22.5 games behind first place St Lucie. They have a 2-8 record in their last ten games and they’ve lost three in a row. The Marauders have three games against Ft Myers before the FSL All-Star break. The All-Star game will take place on Sunday. Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon will represent Bradenton in the game.

Nick Kingham will make his 13th start of the season tonight. He has pitched 49 innings, giving up 55 hits, 11 homers, 15 walks and he has 47 strikeouts. In his last start, he went 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk. Nick has made seven road starts this year, going 1-2 8.03 in 24.2 innings, with a .340 BAA. Kingham faced Lexington on 5/14, going five innings, with two runs allowed on four hits, no walks and he struck out six batters.

John was born in Kearny, NJ, hometown of the 2B for the Pirates 1909 World Championship team, Dots Miller. In fact they have some of the same relatives in common, so it was only natural for him to become a lifelong Pirates fan. Before joining Pirates Prospects in July 2010, John had written numerous articles on the history of baseball while also releasing his own book and co-authoring another on the history of the game. He writes a weekly article on Pirates history for the site, has already interviewed many of the current minor leaguers with many more on the way and follows the foreign minor league teams very closely for the site. John also provides in person game reports of the West Virginia Power and Altoona Curve.